In the past, it is relatively difficult to manually move an immovable patient, such as an injured person in an accident, an aged person or other disabled persons, onto a bed or a stretcher that provides a support surface, and at least two or three nursing personnel are needed to laboriously complete this work. To solve this problem, an inflatable stretcher has been developed and introduced into the market to enable easy transport of an immovable patient with fewer operators.
The conventional inflatable stretcher usually has a plurality of perforations formed on a bottom surface thereof. When using the conventional inflatable stretcher, first position the inflatable stretcher with the perforated bottom surface facing toward a support surface that is fixedly located below the inflatable stretcher. The support surface can be, for example, a floor surface, a bed or a table top. When the inflatable stretcher filled with air is subjected to pressure, the air in the inflatable stretcher will be automatically released from the inflatable stretcher via the perforations to produce continuous pressurized air streams, which together form supporting airflow with an upward lifting force between the bottom surface of the inflatable stretcher and the support surface. Therefore, the nursing personnel or operators can move the patient with less effort.
Further, the conventional inflatable stretcher is internally provided with a plurality of widthwise-extended connection members, which divide an air space in the conventional inflatable stretcher into a plurality of air passages. With these air passages, the whole inflatable stretcher can be uniformly expanded when being inflated with air. In addition, the conventional inflatable stretcher has an outer peripheral edge higher than a central area thereof to protect the patient from falling off when being transported on the conventional inflatable stretcher.
It is noted the supporting airflow released from the bottom surface of the conventional inflatable stretcher is uniformly distributed over the entire bottom surface of the inflatable stretcher to support and lift all parts of the patient at the same time. However, the weight of the patient lying on the inflatable stretcher is not always uniformly distributed over the whole bottom surface of the inflatable stretcher. Therefore, some areas of the conventional inflatable stretcher that are compressed by the lying patient will require more time to be lifted up when compared with other areas that are not compressed by the patient's weight. That is, with the conventional inflatable stretcher, a longer time is needed to lift up the patient from the inflatable stretcher. Since the patient becoming immovable usually requires an urgent medical treatment, it is desirable to shorten the time needed to move the immovable patient from the inflatable stretcher onto a medical support surface and increase the chances of successfully saving the immovable patient's life. In conclusion, the conventional inflatable stretcher still needs improvement.